While there’s a feeling that Lucas Torreira might not be an Arsenal player for much longer, he technically still is despite plying his trade at Fiorentina for the current campaign.
The Uruguay international, born in Fray Bentos, was loaned out to the Serie A side for the season to get some minutes under his belt after failing to impress Mikel Arteta enough.
However, there’s now a firm belief Fiorentina will pay the pre-agreed €15m (or a bit less if they can negotiate a discount) to make the move permanent, as the player has excelled under Vincenzo Italiano of late.
Enjoying himself in a league where he had already demonstrated his ability at Sampdoria, the player took some time out of his free time to write a lengthy letter for Cronache Di Spogliatoio, called ‘Made in Fray Bentos’, where he described his career to date.
Among the many topics, he talked about playing alongside some of football’s greatest stars for both his country and at club level.
He wrote: “Every time I go to the national team, I try to make the most of my proximity to certain champions. I have been lucky enough to meet many of them. At Arsenal, the first year, I didn’t speak English, but some in the team spoke Italian, like Sokratis, Stephan Lichsteiner and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
“In the dressing room, Mesut Özil and Alexandre Lacazette sat next to me. Madness. You can imagine: me drinking mate, and them next to me. Here we are, in London. Remember when I told you about Fray Bentos meat? I didn’t leave the house much, I had a person who often brought me shopping.
“One day, I go to the supermarket, and browsing the shelves, I see a label with the name of my city: “Made in Fray Bentos”. Just like me. A village of 25,000 inhabitants in the London aisles. It was thrilling. It was a tin, yes, but it was exciting.”
